Ruins left by the fire

The Great Boston Fire of 1872 was Boston's largest urban fire and still one of the most costly fire-related property losses in American history. The conflagration began at 7:20PM on November 9, 1872 in the basement of a commercial warehouse at 83 - 87 Summer Street in Boston, Massachusetts. The fire was finally contained 12 hours later after it had consumed about 65 acres (263,000 m²) of Boston's downtown, 776 buildings, much of the financial district and caused $73.5 million in damage. At least 20 people are known to have died in the fire. Image File history File links Great_boston_fire_downtown. ... Image File history File links Great_boston_fire_downtown. ... Jump to: navigation, search For other instances of Boston, see Boston (disambiguation) Boston is the capital and largest city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. ... Jump to: navigation, search A large bonfire. ... Jump to: navigation, search November 9 is the 313th day of the year (314th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 52 days remaining. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1872 was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search State nickname: Bay State Other U.S. States Capital Boston Largest city Boston Governor Mitt Romney (R) Senators Edward Kennedy (D) John Kerry (D) Official language(s) English Area 27,360 km² (44th)  - Land 20,317 km²  - Water 7,043 km² (25. ...

Underlying causes

Many factors contributed to Boston's Great Fire:

• Boston's building regulations were not enforced. There was no authority to stop faulty construction practices.
• Buildings were often insured at full value or above value. Over-insurance meant owners had no incentive to build fire-safe buildings. Insurance-related arson was common.
• Flammable wooden French Mansard roofs were common on most buildings. The fire was able to spread quickly from roof to roof and flames even leapt across the narrow streets onto other buildings. Flying embers and cinders started fires on even more roofs.
• Merchants were not taxed for inventory in their attics therefore offering incentive to stuff their wood attics with flamable goods such as wool, textiles, and paper stocks.
• Most of downtown had old water pipes with low water pressure.
• Fire hydrant couplings were not standardized
• The number of fire hydrants and cisterns was insufficient for a commercial district
• A horse flu epidemic that spread across North America that year had immobilized Boston's fire department horses. As a result all of the fire equipment had to be pulled to the fire by teams of volunteers on foot. This is often attributed as the leading cause of this fire growing out of control but the city commission investigating the fire found that fire crews' response times were delayed by only a matter of minutes.
• Looters and bystanders interfered with fire fighting efforts
• Steam engine pumps were not able to draw enough water to reach the wooden roofs of tall downtown buildings.
• Buildings in the path of the fire were demolished with gunpowder. Instead of forming a fire break the exploding buildings only spread the fire further.
• Gas supply lines connected to street lamps and used for lighting in buildings could not be shut off promptly. Gas lines exploded and fed the flames.

A building code is a set of laws that specify how buildings should be constructed. ... Fire safety is a component of Building Safety. ... Jules Hardouin-Mansart, marble bust by Jean-Louis Lemoyne: a full-dress Baroque portrait bust demonstrates that the Kings architect is no mere craftsman Jules Hardouin-Mansart (Paris, April 16, 1646 – Marly, France, May 11, 1708) was a French architect whose work is generally considered to be the apex... City Fire Hydrant A fire hydrant (also known colloquially as in fire plug in the USA, ) is a source of water provided in most urban, suburban, and rural areas with municipal water service to enable firefighters to tap into the municipal water supply to assist in extinguishing a fire. ... Jump to: navigation, search A steam engine is a heat engine that makes use of the thermal energy that exists in steam, converting it to mechanical work. ... Jump to: navigation, search Gunpowder whether black powder or smokeless powder, is a substance which burns very rapidly and is used as a propellant in firearms. ... Jump to: navigation, search Plow cutting a firebreak in advance of a forest fire, South Carolina Rocky Point Trail acted as a firebreak for a forest fire in McDonald Lake region of Glacier National Park, Montana, USA in summer 2003 A firebreak is a gap in vegetation or other combustible...

Events

Notable events of the fire:

• Oliver Wendell Holmes watched the fire from his home on Beacon Hill.
• Alexander Graham Bell wrote his own eye witness account of the fire in a letter to the Boston Globe newpaper. Unimpressed by Bell's prose the paper did not publish his letter.
• The Great Chicago Fire occurred just 1 year ealier, in October, 1871.
• A committee of concerned citizens and property owners was deputized to demolish buildings in the path of the fire with gunpowder kegs. The explosions did more harm than good by most accounts.
• The glow in the sky over the fire was noted in ships' logs off the coast of Maine.
• Fire departments from every state in New England arrived on trains carrying pumps, fire fighters, more spectators.
• Looters had to be chased out of burning buildings.
• Old South Meeting House on Washington Street, the church in which the Boston Tea Revolt was organized, was rescued from the fire by a citizens brigade of wet blankets.
• Some well known businesses in Boston today had their buildings burn in the fire including the Boston Globe newspaper, the Boston Herald newspaper, and the Shreve, Crump & Low jewelery store.

Oliver Wendell Holmes was the name of two prominent men, father and son: Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. ... 2nd Harrison Gray Otis House, 85 Mount Vernon Street. ... Jump to: navigation, search Alexander Graham Bell (March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a scientist, inventor, founder of Bell Canada, and was formerly credited as father of the telephone. ... The Boston Globe is the most widely-circulated daily newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts and in the greater New England region. ... Jump to: navigation, search Artists rendering of the fire, by John R Chapin, originally printed in Harpers Weekly The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned from October 8 to October 10, 1871, killing hundreds and destroying several square miles in Chicago, Illinois. ... Jump to: navigation, search October is the tenth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1871 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search A ships log is a record of data relating to a ship or submarine, such as weather conditions, crew complement or what ports were docked at and when. ... Jump to: navigation, search State nickname: The Pine Tree State Other U.S. States Capital Augusta Largest city Portland Governor John Baldacci (D) Senators Olympia Snowe (R) Susan Collins (R) Official languages None Area 86,542 km² (39th)  - Land 80,005 km²  - Water 11,724 km² (13. ... Jump to: navigation, search While the states marked in red show the core of New England, the regions cultural influence may cover a greater or lesser area than shown. ... The Old South Meeting House with 33 Arch Street in the background Bostons Old South Meeting House gained fame as the organizing point for the Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Boston Tea Party was a political protest by Boston, Massachusetts, residents against the British parliament. ...

Aftermath

The fire rendered thousands of Bostonians jobless and homeless. Hundreds of businesses were destroyed and dozens of insurance companies were bankrupted. However, the burnt district was quickly rebuilt in just under two years, mostly because by the excess capital of Boston's commercial property owners. Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organization to pay their creditors. ...

City planning during the post fire reconstruction caused several streets in downtown Boston to be widened, particularly Congress Street, Federal Street, Purchase Street, Hawley Street, and reserved the space for Post Office Square. Most of the rubble and ruins of the buildings destroyed by the fire was dumped in the harbor to fill in Atlantic Avenue. Jump to: navigation, search Post Office Square in the Financial District, Boston, Massachusetts Post Office Square is a privately owned and managed public park in Boston, Massachusetts It sits above a parking garage in the heart of the Financial District. ...

Boston's Fire Chief John Damrell was credited for stopping the fire despite the circumstances. Damrell later used his celebrity to lobby for the adoption of a unified national building code. A building code is a set of laws that specify how buildings should be constructed. ...

External links

• "Damrell's Fire" a web site and documentary film about Boston's Great Fire of 1872
• Flash Map of Fire from MapJunction
• Boston Fire Department History
• Account by William Delano (Chief Engineer at the time)